Phragmites Australis) in Chesapeake Bay, USA by Dennis F
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Australasian Plant Conservation BULLETIN OF THE AUSTRALIAN NETWORK FOR PLANT CONSERVATION Inc voluMe 18 nuMber 4 • MArCh - MAY 2010 The impacts of increasing solar ultraviolet light on the wetland mires of the mainland Australian Alps Reversing drivers of degradation in Blue Mountains and Newnes Plateau Shrub Swamp endangered ecological communities Conserving the endangered montane wetlands of the New England Tablelands Wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin: EPBC Act threatened ecological communities? Vegetation management and hydrological restoration of Bolin Bolin Billabong, Victoria And much much more … sPeCiAl theMe: wetlAnDs AnD PlAnt ConservAtion AUSTRALASIAN PLANT CONSERVATION ANPC National Office Australasian Plant Conservation GPO Box 1777 Editor Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia Rosemary Purdie Ph: (02) 6250 9509 Fax: (02) 6250 9528 Editorial Team Email: [email protected] Paul Gibson-Roy, Sally Jacka, Bob Makinson, Web: http://www.anpc.asn.au Sue Mathams and Zoë Smith ANPC Inc. National Office Staff Layout & Graphic Design Mission Statement Sue Mathams and Merryl Bradley Siobhan Duffy “To promote and improve Volunteers Australasian Plant Conservation is produced by the plant conservation” Odette Mayne ANPC Inc. with assistance from the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Contributing to Australasian ANPC Committee Australasian Plant Conservation is printed on Plant Conservation President Vice President recycled paper. Bob Makinson David Coates ISSN 1039-6500 Australasian Plant Conservation is a forum for information exchange for all Treasurer Secretary Adrian Fethers Phil Ainsley those involved in plant conservation: please use it to share your work Committee Members New Zealand Plant Conservation with others. Articles, information Network Paul Adam, Tom Celebrezze, Paul Donatiu, snippets, details of new publications or Paul Gibson-Roy, Sally Jacka, Helena Mills, President Philippa Crisp research, and diary dates are welcome. Noushka Reiter, Mark Richardson, Secretary John Sawyer Zoë Smith and David Taylor PO Box 5086 Wellington, New Zealand. The deadline for the June–August Email: [email protected] 2010 issue is Friday 28 May 2010. The ANPC News Web: www.nzpcn.org.nz theme of that issue will be ‘Regrowth: a positive force for plant conservation’. To subscribe or unsubscribe go to http://anpcnews.blogspot.com/. General articles are also very welcome. To post a message, send a request to Please contact Tom Celebrezze if you [email protected]. are intending to submit an article: tom. [email protected]. Authors are encouraged to submit ANPC Major Sponsors images with articles or information. Please submit images as clear prints, GOld SPONSOrS slides, drawings, or in electronic format. Electronic images need to be at least 300 dpi resolution, submitted in at least the size that they are to be published, in tif, jpg or gif format. Guidelines for authors are at: http://www.anpc.asn.au/ Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT anpc/pdffiles/APCGuideContrib.pdf. Please send articles, no more than OTHEr SponsorS 1200 words, as a MS Word (2000 compatible) or rich text format file, on disk or by email to: tom.celebrezze@ environment.nsw.gov.au Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the ANPC or its sponsors. Material presented in Australasian Plant Conservation may be copied for personal use or pub lished for educational purposes, provided that any extracts are fully acknowledged. Where any material is credited to and/or copyright to another source, please contact the original source for permission to reprint. Front cover: Buttongrass (Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus) wetland, Ebor, New England Tablelands with abundant yellow Xyris operculata. Photo: Adam Gosling. Printed by: Blue Star Print, Canberra. Vol. 18 No. 4 • March - May 2010 AUSTRALASIAN PLANT CONSERVATION Contents From the Editor ................................................................................................................................................................... 2 The impacts of increasing solar ultraviolet light on the wetland mires of the mainland Australian Alps by Roger Good, Genevieve Wright, Geoff Hope and Jennie Whinam ................................................................................ 3 Reversing drivers of degradation in Blue Mountains and Newnes Plateau Shrub Swamp endangered ecological communities by Michael Hensen and Eric Mahony ........................................................................................................... 5 Conserving the endangered montane wetlands of the New England Tablelands by Adam Gosling and Nic Cobcroft ...... 7 Wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin: EPBC Act threatened ecological communities? by Gina Newton ...................... 9 Vegetation management and hydrological restoration of Bolin Bolin Billabong, Victoria by Karl Just and Garry French ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Floristic values and hydrological threats to freshwater claypans in Drummond Nature Reserve, Western Australia by Wendy Chow, Ryan Vogwill and Matt Forbes ............................................................................................................. 13 Rehabilitating a dry wetland on the southern tablelands of New South Wales by Michael Pattison ............................... 15 The invasion of common reed (Phragmites australis) in Chesapeake Bay, USA by Dennis F. Whigham, Karin M. Kettenring, Melissa K. McCormick and Heather Baron ................................................................................... 17 Removing the Devils Claw from Gregory National Park, Northern Territory by Karlie Goetze and Derek Sandow ..... 19 Tackling wetland weeds: reducing impacts and restoring native vegetation on the Far North Coast of New South Wales by Laura White and Garry Owers ....................................................................................................... 20 Adelaide Botanic Gardens First Creek Wetland Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project by Phil Ainsley and Andrew Pill ....................................................................................................................................... 22 Supporting the wetland community to protect and restore Australian wetlands by Kate Heyward ................................. 24 A new organisation supporting wetland restoration, management and research in the Murray Darling by Roger Good .................................................................................................................................................................. 25 Medicinal plants of Nigeria’s savannah areas under threat by T.R. Fasola ...................................................................... 26 ANPC in the USA: directions in science and conservation at the Smithsonian Institution by Zoë Smith ........................ 28 New Key Threatening Processes listed under the EPBC Act ........................................................................................... 29 Regular Features Report from NZ Plant Conservation Network .................................................................................................................. 29 Research Roundup ............................................................................................................................................................ 30 Book Reviews ................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Information Resources and Useful Web Sites .................................................................................................................. 34 Conferences and Workshops ............................................................................................................................................. 36 Ever considered making a donation to ANPC? ANPC relies predominantly on membership fees, sponsorship and project funding to stay financially viable and thus able to carry out the range of activities the organisation is now known for, including organising and running regular ANPC forums and conferences, targeted training workshops, and publication of Australasian Plant Conservation. Donations to our Public Fund can also make a difference, with donations of $2 or more being tax-deductible. So, why not consider making a donation now—contact the ANPC Office (phone 02 6250 9509 or email [email protected]), or go to our web site <www.anpc.asn.au>. Vol. 18 No. 4 • March - May 2010 1 AUSTRALASIAN PLANT CONSERVATION From the Editor Rosemary Purdie c/- Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Canberra. The theme for this issue of Australasian Plant and The Morass wetland system near Goulburn in New Conservation is ‘Wetlands and plant conservation’. South Wales. As many ANPC members in southern Australia Our attention then turn to tackling specific weeds of would know, numerous wetlands there have been wetland ecosystems: Common Reed (Phragmites decidedly dry over the recent years of drought, with australis) in Chesapeake Bay, USA; Devils Claw those conditions adding to the challenges of managing (Martynia annua) along rivers in Gregory National Park these important ecosystems. Climate change, urban in the Northern Territory (where getting rid of the weed and other development, weed invasion, feral animals, has been turned into a festival);